Tomaszewski then turned in a fantastic – and sometimes lucky – performance to deny attack after attack and the Poles went ahead through Jan Domarski who was set up by Grzegorz Lato. England replied through an Allan Clarke penalty, but it was too little, too late.

June 11, 1986

Poland 0 England 3 (WC)

Revenge is a dish best served cold and after 13 years without crossing swords, England gave Poland a thorough beating in the group stage of Mexico 86.

Lineker’s unrelenting crusade against the Poles continued In the final qualifier for Euro 92. This time a fantastic acrobatic equaliser ensured that the Three Lions made the final cut for what was then an eight-team tournament.

May 29, 1993

Poland 1 England 1 (WCQ)

Two years later, Lineker was no longer involved but there was a new England striker ready to prey on the Poles. Ian Wright grabbed a late goal to cancel out Dariusz Adamczuk’s first.

September 8, 1993

England 3 Poland 0 (WCQ)

A convincing victory for Graham Taylor’s men as Les Ferdinand, Paul Gascoigne and Stuart Pearce netted at Wembley.

October 9, 1996

England 2 Poland 1 (WCQ)

The pair resumed a now familiar rivalry in the qualifiers for France 98. It was Glenn Hoddle’s first match as manager at Wembley and Alan Shearer scored the brace which brought home the points.

May 31, 1997

Poland 0 England 2 (WCQ)

Strike duo Shearer and Teddy Sheringham grabbed the goals as England turned the World Cup qualifying group into a two-horse race between them and Italy.

March 27, 1999

England 3 Poland 1 (ECQ)

Paul Scholes was the man to deliver this time as a fantastic hat-trick from the midfield wizard sent the Three Lions on their way. This was the last time an England player bagged three at the old Wembley.

A late red card for David Batty blighted a result which ensured England made the play-offs for Euro 2000 where they would dispatch Scotland over two legs.

September 8, 2004

Poland 1 England 2 (WCQ)

Jermain Defoe’s first start for England saw the striker net the opening goal which set Sven Goran Eriksson’s men on course for victory. Maciej Zurawski equalised in the second half but a Arkadiusz Gowacki own-goal sealed the points.

October 12, 2005

England 2 Poland 1 (WCQ)

Michael Owen deflected in a Joe Cole shot and Frank Lampard scored a fabulous winner 10 minutes from time, either side of a Tomasz Frankowski volley. The three points made sure that Eriksson’s team finished on top of the group and went to Germany the next summer full of hope.

A match delayed almost 24 hours after torrential rain in Warsaw, saw Wayne Rooney give England the lead against the run of play. A Joe Hart error then allowed centre-half Kamil Glik to thump home a header.